Reading Crisis, Part 1: The Summoning

Crisis on Infinite Earths -- Part 1: The Summoning

Well, every story has to start somewhere, and when your story starts at the beginning of all creation, well, one can assume that you have a pretty big story to tell.  Perez's art is darn pretty throughout, but I liked his take on the Big Bang and the formation of the Multiverse, along with his panel layout choices, especially on the spreads.

Wolfman is definitely getting things into motion here but he doesn't waste any time in getting to the meat of things.  I loved the scenes on Earth-3.  I read years ago that the Crime Syndicate were the first super-powered folks to be wiped out because they were the Justice League analogues.  It's an obvious choice but it really works well seeing the faux-Justice League eradicated.  I also really liked the Superman symmetry with Luthor and Lois.

Seeing Firestorm and Killer Frost together is funny, because Shag over at Firestorm Fan just gave us a rundown of the ladies who have used the Killer Frost name on a recent episode of The Fire And Water Podcast.  Blue Beetle's introduction was great as well.

I didn't understand the bit with Harbinger and Arion... was she possessed by some shadow spirit or something?  It was confusing to jump to Arion, cut away, and then jump back.  Still not clear what happened there.

The bit with Batman, Joker, and the spectral image of The Flash was really well done.  The Bat stuff was just pitch perfect 80s Batman, but then you throw in this ominous visage of Flash and then things start getting weird, and you know I like weird stuff.

I had no idea that Geo-Force was in this story.  I'm sure he is here just to represent the Outsiders, but it was a nice surprise nonetheless.  Of course, he does sort of get the short end of the stick, with no scene of Harbinger recruiting him and no dialogue during the battle with the Shadow Demons.  He doesn't even rate the front cover!  But hey, Geo-Force!

Speaking of the Shadow Demons, I didn't see the point of that scene other than to throw an action sequence in there.  The scene itself is well composed but ultimately seemed tacked on.  Maybe it will be more important next issue?  To be fair I did like the dialogue with Arion and Doctor Polaris.

Overall I thought this issue was a lot different than I expected it to be.  Yeah we had the cosmos-shaking stuff but a lot of the story was personal and "small."  Its different than most of the mega crossovers we get now.  Maybe that's part of the charm, or perhaps the lack thereof for a lot of the modern stuff.  So far I am digging it and I want more.

Next: Time And Time Again!